Well, almost.
After failing to receive feedback and collaborations from organizations that I have contacted through e-mails, I finally decided to call one of the organizations for better results. I called UNICEF directly and had to wait over 15 minutes for a representative to take my call. The reason being is because they were experiencing high call volumes. After the wait was over, I had the opportunity to communicate with Laura Priette. She stated that she was not the person I needed to talk to however, and left a note to the appropriate professional with my name and number, who I can collaborate with throughout the rest of the course. Laura stated that the person should be contacting me soon, but I have yet to hear from her. Laura mostly deals with taking donations for UNICEF but wanted to help me as much as possible with questions I had regarding the organization. While on the phone, she collaborated with me that UNICEF is very sensitive about children and families who are going through poverty and strives to contribute to their needs in every way. Access to clean water, a good education, and medical attention is just a few of the contributions they provide. She shared that throughout the world, children will fail tremendously in their education if their health and well being is not in the best shape. Laura has not met the families who are struggling through poverty personally, but the stories that are shared from her co-workers and volunteers are very touching and encourages her to continue to make a difference in the organization.
I have learned that poverty is a very serious issue and should not be taken lightly. So many children across the world are suffering from starvation and because of this, their education suffers. I always say, if the brain is not healthy, a child cannot perform to his/her fullest potential.
I thanked Laura and told her I really appreciate her for taking out her time to communicate with me about this issue. Hopefully I will hear from the other professional soon to receive more helpful insights.
Stay tuned.....
Latasha,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your findings with the class. I'm glad to hear that you were almost able to get in contact with your international contact by any means necessary. Hopefully they will get back to you soon and share more in poverty and current issues in the early childhood domain. I think you are off to a great start and it is truly shocking to me how many children will fail as a result of poverty. Something has got to change. These poor children are born into the world without a fighting chance and that makes me work hard at what I do to see that these kids are given every opportunity to be successful. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to hearing all that you find out from you international contact.
Shayla
Hi Latasha,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that a healthy body is a healthy mind. If children are not healthy and in a right state of mind, no matter what information is put in front of them, learning will be very difficult. Just as important as high-quality education is, being in an overall well state of health is very important.
As for your question for how I was able to communicate with my contact, I am currently teaching out of the U.S. in South America so I chose one of my coworkers that is from here in Colombia. I chatted with her on the phone about the issues on poverty. I hope the other contact you are waiting for gets back to you soon. Thanks for sharing.
Stephanie